Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Galatians (English → Kurdish)
This glossary extends the baseline Romans translation_memory.json. Terms marked [BASELINE — REUSE EXACT] are already established in the Romans package and MUST be used identically in all Galatians materials. Terms marked [NEW] are proposed additions required by Galatians’ distinct vocabulary, formatted for direct promotion into translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json in Phase 2 tooling.
Section A — Baseline Terms Reused Exactly (from Romans translation_memory.json)
| English term | Kurdish rendering | Risk (baseline) | Galatians occurrences (representative) | Notes for Galatians use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| gospel | Mizgînî | Medium (escalates to High in Gal.) | 1:6-9, 11; 2:2, 5, 7, 14; 3:8; 4:13 | Paired here with the anathema formula (1:8-9); risk escalates |
| grace | Kerem | High | 1:3, 6, 15; 2:9, 21; 5:4; 6:18 | ”Fallen from grace” (5:4) requires the baseline’s Sufi-keramet caution |
| faith | Îman | High | 2:16, 20; 3:2-26; 5:5-6, 22 | Central to justification argument throughout |
| righteousness | Adalet | Critical | 2:21; 3:6, 21; 5:5 | |
| justification | Wek adil hatin hesibandin | Critical | 2:16-17; 3:8, 11, 24; 5:4 | Letter’s thesis term |
| imputed_righteousness | Adaleta ku tê hesibandin | Critical | 3:6 | Direct Genesis 15:6 citation, same as Romans 4:3 |
| salvation | Rizgarî | Critical | (implicit throughout; explicit soteriological framing) | Anchor against nationalist liberation reading, per baseline |
| apostle | Şandî | Medium | 1:1, 17, 19; 2:8 | Foundational to “Paul’s Apostleship” doctrine |
| called / calling | Bangkirî / Vexwendin | High/Medium | 1:6, 15; 5:8, 13 | |
| holy | Pîroz | Medium/High | (Holy Spirit references) | |
| holy_spirit | Ruhê Pîroz | Critical | 3:2-5, 14; 4:6, 29; 5:5, 16-18, 22, 25; 6:1, 8 | Extremely dense usage in chs. 4-6 |
| sanctification | Teqdîs | High | (implicit in Spirit-life ethics) | |
| adoption | Kurxwendin | Critical | 4:5 | Central doctrine; reinforced by tribal-lineage caution |
| resurrection | Rabûn | Critical | 1:1 | ”Raised him from the dead” |
| lord | Xudan | Critical | 1:3, 19; 6:14, 18 | |
| son_of_god | Kurê Xwedê | Critical | 1:16; 2:20; 4:4, 6 | Extremely dense in core passage and ch.4 |
| incarnation | Tecessud | Critical | 4:4 | ”Born of woman, born under the law” |
| peace | Aştî | Medium | 1:3; 5:22; 6:16 | |
| church | Dêr / Civata Mesîhî | High | 1:2, 13, 22 | ”Churches of Galatia,” “church of God” |
| law | Şerîeta Mûsa | Critical | 2:16, 19, 21; 3:2-25; 4:4-5, 21; 5:3-4, 14, 18, 23; 6:2, 13 | Highest-frequency Critical term in the letter; NEVER shorten to bare “Şerîet” |
| sin | Guneh | High | 1:4; 2:17; 3:22 | |
| gentiles | Ne-cihû | Medium | 2:2-3, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15; 3:8, 14 | |
| glory | Rûmet | Medium | 1:5, 24 | |
| obedience_of_faith | Guhdarîkirina Baweriyê | High | (background concept; cf. 3:2, 5) | Distinct from but adjacent to new “hearing with faith” term |
| power_of_god | Hêza Xwedê | Medium | (implicit) | |
| messiah / christ | Mesîh | Critical | throughout | |
| prophet | Pêxember | High | (background; ties to Apostleship doctrine’s revelation claim) | |
| covenant | Peyman | High | 3:15, 17; 4:24 | Distinct from new “promise” (Soz) term — do not conflate |
| election | Hilbijartin | High | (background; 1:15 calling) | |
| intercession | Navbeynkarî | High | (background; informs new “mediator” term) | |
| providence | Rêveberiya Xwedê | Medium | 4:4 “fullness of time” | |
| mission | Peywira Mizgîniyê | High | 1:16; 2:2, 7-9 | |
| david | Dawid | Medium | (not directly named but background covenant framework) | |
| israel | Îsraîl | Medium | 6:16 “Israel of God” | Risk escalates to High in this new phrase |
| jesus | Îsa | Critical | throughout | |
| god | Xwedê | Critical | throughout | |
| father | Bav | Critical | 1:1, 3, 4; 4:2, 6 | |
| abba | Aba | High | 4:6 | |
| exhort | Handan kirin | Low | 6:1 | |
| seed_of_david | Dûndana Dawid | High | (model for new “seed of Abraham” term) |
Section B — New Terms Required for Galatians
| # | English term | Greek (translit.) | Kurdish rendering | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine | Alternatives rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | works of the law | ἔργα νόμου (erga nomou) | Karên Şerîeta Mûsa | karên şerîeta mûsa | Critical | Justification by Faith; Law and Grace | ”karên baş” (good deeds, too generic) | Must always retain the “Şerîeta Mûsa” qualifier; core polemical target of the letter |
| 2 | another/different gospel | ἕτερον/ἄλλο εὐαγγέλιον (heteron/allo euangelion) | Mizgîniyeke din | mizgîniyeke din | Critical | The True Gospel versus False Gospels | — | Must be paired with explicit denial that any other true gospel exists (1:7) |
| 3 | accursed (anathema) | ἀνάθεμα (anathema) | Bila nifir li ser be | nifir | Critical | The True Gospel versus False Gospels | ”lanet” (Arabic loan, closer to Islamic takfir register) | Frame strictly as Paul’s specific apostolic pronouncement, not a general excommunication template; safety-sensitive across host states |
| 4 | curse of the law | κατάρα τοῦ νόμου (katara tou nomou) | Nifira Şerîeta Mûsa | nifira şerîeta mûsa | Critical | The Law’s Purpose | bare “nifira Şerîetê” (rejected — risks “sharia curses” misreading) | Combine curse-caution with Şerîeta Mûsa discipline |
| 5 | hanged on a tree | κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου (kremamenos epi xylou) | hatiye daliqandin li ser darê | dar (tree/wood) | Critical | Crucified with Christ; The Law’s Purpose | — | Must affirm the historical crucifixion unambiguously against regional denial |
| 6 | crucified with Christ | συνεσταύρωμαι (synestaurōmai) | Ez bi Mesîh re hatim xaçkirin | xaçkirin | Critical | Crucified with Christ | ”bi Mesîh re mirin” (weaker, loses crucifixion-specificity) | Distinguish from Sufi fana (self-annihilation) and Yazidi manifestation frameworks |
| 7 | promise | ἐπαγγελία (epangelia) | Soz | soz | Critical | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | ”Peyman” (rejected as sole rendering — that term is reserved for “covenant”; keep the two distinct) | Must not collapse into “peyman”; tracks the Isaac/Ishmael-sensitive Abrahamic argument |
| 8 | seed/offspring (of Abraham) | σπέρμα (sperma) | Dûndana Îbrahîm | dûndan | High | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | — | Built on baseline’s “Dûndana Dawid” pattern; singular/plural (Christ) argument needs explanatory apparatus |
| 9 | Hagar / Sarah allegory (slave woman/free woman; flesh/promise; two covenants; Jerusalem above) | παιδίσκη/ἐλευθέρα; κατὰ σάρκα/δι’ ἐπαγγελίας; δύο διαθῆκαι; ἡ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλήμ | Hecer / Sara; li gorî bedenê / li gorî sozê; du peyman; Orşelîma jorîn | — | Critical | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise; Law and Grace | — | Highest-sensitivity passage in the book; direct engagement with Ishmael/Isaac reversal in Islamic tradition; mandatory theologian review |
| 10 | guardian/tutor (paidagōgos) | παιδαγωγός (paidagōgos) | Rêberê Zarokan | paidagogos (gloss only) | High | The Law’s Purpose | ”pîr/mamoste” (rejected — risks conflation with Sufi spiritual-master role) | Temporary custodial role, set aside at maturity — unlike a lifelong Sufi murshid bond |
| 11 | heir | κληρονόμος (klēronomos) | Mîratgir | mîratgir | High | Adoption and Sonship | — | Tension with patrilineal aşîret inheritance customs |
| 12 | elemental spirits of the world | στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου (stoicheia tou kosmou) | Bingehên Seretayî yên vê Dinyayê | stoicheia (gloss only) | Critical | The Law’s Purpose | ”ruhên cîhanê” (rejected — risks jinn/spirit-world conflation) | Avoid personified-spirit rendering given Yazidi and folk-Islamic spirit beliefs |
| 13 | freedom / liberty | ἐλευθερία (eleutheria) | Azadî | azadî | Critical | Freedom in Christ | — | Companion term to baseline’s “rizgarî”; must always be anchored to freedom from law/sin, never left to default to Kurdish nationalist political liberation |
| 14 | yoke of slavery | ζυγὸς δουλείας (zygos douleias) | Nîrê Koletiyê | nîr, kole | High | Freedom in Christ | — | Direct antonym pairing with “azadî” |
| 15 | circumcision | περιτομή (peritomē) | Sinet | sinet | Critical | Circumcision and the New Creation | no safe native alternative identified | Near-universal Kurdish Muslim practice; target Paul’s argument at circumcision-as-salvation-requirement, not the practice itself |
| 16 | uncircumcision | ἀκροβυστία (akrobystia) | Nesinetî | nesinetî | Medium | Circumcision and the New Creation | — | Descriptive pairing with “sinet” |
| 17 | new creation | καινὴ κτίσις (kainē ktisis) | Afirandina Nû | afirandina nû | Critical | Circumcision and the New Creation | — | Letter’s climactic answer to the circumcision debate; supernatural, not moral-improvement, sense |
| 18 | flesh (ethical sense) | σάρξ (sarx) | Nefs | nefs | Critical | Flesh versus Spirit | ”beden” (rejected for the ethical sense — too neutral/physical; reserved for sarx’s neutral sense at 2:20) | Genuine Sufi-ascetic parallel; must pair every occurrence with explicit Spirit-empowered (not self-effort) victory teaching |
| 19 | flesh (neutral/physical sense) | σάρξ (sarx) | Beden | beden | Medium | Crucified with Christ (2:20) | “nefs” (rejected for this sense — would wrongly import moral negativity) | Keep distinct from #18; consistency-check across the letter required |
| 20 | works of the flesh | ἔργα τῆς σαρκός (erga tēs sarkos) | Karên Nefsê | karên nefsê | High | Flesh versus Spirit | — | Parallel construction to “works of the law” |
| 21 | fruit of the Spirit | καρπὸς τοῦ πνεύματος (karpos tou pneumatos) | Fêkiyê Ruh | fêkiyê ruh | Medium | Fruit of the Spirit | ”berhemê Ruh” (considered; “fêkî” preferred as more organic/natural metaphor) | Preserve singular “fruit” vs. plural “works” contrast where possible |
| 22 | faith working through love | πίστις δι’ ἀγάπης ἐνεργουμένη (pistis di’ agapēs energoumenē) | Îmana ku bi Evînê Kar Dike | — | High | Faith Working through Love | — | Love is faith’s fruit, never a second ground of justification |
| 23 | law of Christ | νόμος τοῦ Χριστοῦ (nomos tou Christou) | Şerîeta Mesîh | şerîeta mesîh | High | Bearing One Another’s Burdens | — | Ironic/paradoxical use of “law”; not a new legal code replacing Moses’ law on a works-basis |
| 24 | bear one another’s burdens | ἀλλήλων τὰ βάρη βαστάζετε (allēlōn ta barē bastazete) | Barê Hev Hilgirin | — | Medium | Bearing One Another’s Burdens | — | Positive cultural resonance with Kurdish communal mutual-aid (destgirtin) customs |
| 25 | boast in the cross | καυχᾶσθαι ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ (kauchasthai en tō staurō) | Bi Xaç Pesindan | — | High | Crucified with Christ | — | Honor-shame reversal requiring explicit teaching |
| 26 | Israel of God | ὁ Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ θεοῦ (ho Israēl tou theou) | Îsraîlê Xwedê | — | High | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise; unity of Jews and Gentiles | — | Typological reapplication to the church; frame carefully re: modern political state and ethnic Israel |
| 27 | transgressor | παραβάτης (parabatēs) | Binpêkerê Şerîetê | — | High | The Law’s Purpose | ”gunehkar” (rejected — too generic, loses precise legal-violation sense) | Distinct from generic “sinner” |
| 28 | bewitched | ἐβάσκανεν (ebaskanen) | Çavê Xerab Lê Xistin | — | High | The True Gospel versus False Gospels | — | Live Kurdish evil-eye folk category; frame as rhetorical idiom, not literal magic endorsement |
| 29 | revelation (of Jesus Christ, to Paul) | ἀποκάλυψις (apokalypsis) | Eşkerekirina Îsa Mesîh | — | Critical | Paul’s Apostleship | — | Engages finality-of-prophethood concerns; ground of Paul’s apostolic authority |
| 30 | servant of Christ | δοῦλος Χριστοῦ (doulos Christou) | Xulamê Mesîh | — | Medium | Paul’s Apostleship | — | Positive sense of doulos; hold in tension with negative “slavery” word-group |
| 31 | false brothers | ψευδάδελφοι (pseudadelphoi) | Birayên Derewîn | — | Medium | The True Gospel versus False Gospels | — | |
| 32 | truth of the gospel | ἡ ἀλήθεια τοῦ εὐαγγελίου (hē alētheia tou euangeliou) | Rastiya Mizgîniyê | — | High | The True Gospel versus False Gospels | — | Must render identically at 2:5 and 2:14 |
| 33 | redeemed | ἐξαγοράζω (exagorazō) | Fîdî Kirin | fîdî | Medium-High | The Law’s Purpose; Adoption and Sonship | ”xilas kirin” (too close to generic rizgarî family; kept distinct for the “purchase/ransom” nuance) | Positive resonance with Kurdish ransom/compensation customs |
| 34 | mediator | μεσίτης (mesitēs) | Navbeynkar | navbeynkar | Medium | The Law’s Purpose | — | Built on baseline’s navbeynkarî (intercession) |
| 35 | hearing with faith | ἀκοὴ πίστεως (akoē pisteōs) | Bihîstina bi Îmanê | — | Medium-High | Justification by Faith | — | Distinct from but adjacent to baseline’s “obedience of faith” |
| 36 | zealous for ancestral traditions | ζηλωτής… πατρικῶν παραδόσεων (zēlōtēs… patrikōn paradoseōn) | Dilxwazî ji bo Kevneşopiyên Bav û Kalan | — | Medium | Paul’s Apostleship | — | Paul’s own pre-conversion zeal, narrated as overturned, not modeled |
| 37 | fallen from grace | τῆς χάριτος ἐξεπέσατε (tēs charitos exepesate) | Ji Keremê Ketin | — | High | Law and Grace | — | Sufi-keramet caution applies |
| 38 | observe days, months, seasons, years | ἡμέρας… μῆνας… καιροὺς… ἐνιαυτούς (hēmeras… mēnas… kairous… eniautous) | Rojan, Mehan, Demsalan û Salan Lê Nêrîn | — | High | The Law’s Purpose | — | Pastorally sensitive re: Ramadan, Islamic/Yazidi holy days; target is law-based righteousness, not any calendar observance whatsoever |
| 39 | offense/stumbling-block of the cross | τὸ σκάνδαλον τοῦ σταυροῦ (to skandalon tou staurou) | Sedema Tiralbûnê ya Xaçê | — | High | Crucified with Christ | — | Honor-shame dynamics |
| 40 | died for no purpose / in vain | δωρεάν (dōrean) | Bêsedem Mir | — | High | Justification by Faith | — | Wordplay with “free gift” root; core passage (2:21) |
Section C — Proper Names (New in Galatians, not in Romans baseline)
| English | Kurdish rendering | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Galatia / Galatians | Galatya / Galatî | Standard transliteration; low risk |
| Cephas | Kefas (gloss: Petrûs) | Paul’s Aramaic-form usage; distinguish from Gospel-tradition “Petrûs” on first occurrence only |
| Barnabas | Barnabas | Standard |
| Titus | Tîtûs | Standard |
| James (the Lord’s brother) | Aqûb | Consistent with established Kurdish Bible convention |
| Antioch | Entaqya | Standard |
| Hagar | Hecer | Central to the ch.4 allegory; handle per Critical note above |
| Sarah | Sara | Central to the ch.4 allegory; handle per Critical note above |
| Mount Sinai | Çiyayê Sînayê | Standard |
| Jerusalem (present / above) | Orşelîm / Orşelîma jorîn | See “Israel of God” and Hagar-Sarah caution above |
| Arabia | Erebistan | Geographic reference, 1:17; low risk |
| Damascus | Şam / Dimeşq | Use established Kurdish Bible convention; confirm with destination platform |
| Syria and Cilicia | Sûriye û Kîlîkya | Standard |
Section D — Chapter Coverage Confirmation
| Chapter | New terms introduced | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | gospel (escalated risk), another gospel, anathema, pleasing men/God, servant of Christ, revelation, zealous, set apart from the womb | Covered — see 07_semantic_analysis.md §Ch.1 |
| 2 (vv.1-14) | freedom (first occurrence), slavery, truth of the gospel, pillars, right hand of fellowship, hypocrisy, Judaize | Covered — see 07_semantic_analysis.md §Ch.2 |
| 2 (vv.15-21, core passage) | works of the law, justified, servant of sin, transgressor, crucified with Christ, died for no purpose | Covered verse-by-verse — see 07_semantic_analysis.md Part 1 |
| 3 | bewitched, hearing with faith, sons of Abraham, curse of the law, hanged on a tree, redeemed, promise, seed/offspring, mediator, guardian/tutor, baptized/clothed with Christ, neither Jew nor Greek…, heirs according to promise | Covered — see 07_semantic_analysis.md §Ch.3 |
| 4 | guardian and manager, elemental spirits, fullness of time, sent forth his Son, heir, formerly did not know God, observe days/months/seasons/years, Hagar-Sarah allegory, Jerusalem above, cast out the slave woman | Covered — see 07_semantic_analysis.md §Ch.4 |
| 5 | freedom (full treatment), yoke of slavery, circumcision, fallen from grace, hope of righteousness, faith working through love, leaven, offense of the cross, called to freedom, flesh (ethical sense), works of the flesh, fruit of the Spirit, keep in step with the Spirit | Covered — see 07_semantic_analysis.md §Ch.5 |
| 6 | restore gently, bear one another’s burdens, law of Christ, sowing and reaping, household of faith, boast in the cross, new creation, Israel of God, marks of Jesus, grace be with your spirit | Covered — see 07_semantic_analysis.md §Ch.6 |
No chapter of Galatians is without load-bearing theological vocabulary; every chapter is represented above with either full term treatment or explicit reuse of established baseline/earlier-chapter terms.
Critical Risk Terms
Righteousness
Approved rendering: Adalet
Transliteration: adalet
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: Rastî
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Galatians 2:21 and 3:21 make explicit what Romans implies: if this righteousness came through Şerîeta Mûsa, Christ’s death would be pointless — the antithesis must remain sharp.
Justification
Approved rendering: Wek adil hatin hesibandin
Transliteration: wek adil hatin hesibandin
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Original: δικαιόω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. This is the letter’s central polemical verb (2:16-17; 3:8, 11, 24; 5:4); consistency across every occurrence is mandatory, especially within 2:16 where it recurs three times.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: Adaleta ku tê hesibandin
Transliteration: adaleta ku tê hesibandin
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Rejected alternatives: Adaleta ku tê bidestxistin
Original: ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Galatians 3:6 cites Genesis 15:6 identically to Romans 4:3; forbidden substitution ‘Adaleta ku tê bidestxistin’ (earned righteousness) remains banned.
Salvation
Approved rendering: Rizgarî
Transliteration: rizgarî
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Original: σωτηρία (implicit soteriological framework)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Though the noun itself is less frequent than in Romans, Galatians’ ‘Freedom in Christ’ doctrine (Azadî) sits directly alongside Rizgarî in the same nationalist-liberation-charged Kurdish political vocabulary field, doubling the anchoring discipline required.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Ruhê Pîroz
Transliteration: Ruhê Pîroz
Doctrine: Flesh versus Spirit
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον / τὸ πνεῦμα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Extremely dense usage across Galatians 3-6 (3:2-5, 14; 4:6, 29; 5:5, 16-18, 22, 25; 6:1, 8); the created-being-versus-divine-Person distinction (Jibril/Gabriel identification found regionally) must be reasserted at each occurrence, and ‘walk by the Spirit’ must clearly denote this specific divine Person, not a generic spirit given regional folk belief in jinn and ancestral spirits.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: Rabûn
Transliteration: rabûn
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package. Invoked early (1:1, ‘raised him from the dead’) as a foundational credential claim; the Qur’anic crucifixion-denial (4:157) and Yazidi kiras guhertin (reincarnation) risks apply as in Romans.
Lord
Approved rendering: Xudan
Transliteration: Xudan
Doctrine: Crucified with Christ
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Occurs at 1:3, 1:19, 6:14, 6:18.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Kurê Xwedê
Transliteration: Kurê Xwedê
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ / ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Extremely dense in Galatians (1:16; 2:20; 4:4, 6); the baseline’s dual caution (mainstream tawhid denial AND inverted Sufi wahdat al-wujud / Yazidi manifestation over-assimilation) applies with full force at every occurrence.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: Tecessud
Transliteration: tecessud
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Original: γενόμενον ἐκ γυναικός, γενόμενον ὑπὸ νόμον
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Galatians 4:4’s ‘born of woman, born under the law’ additionally ties this Critical term to the Şerîeta Mûsa discipline.
Law
Approved rendering: Şerîeta Mûsa
Transliteration: Şerîeta Mûsa
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Rejected alternatives: Namûs, bare Şerîet
Original: νόμος
Category: Law
Inherited from Romans package (baseline risk Critical, confirmed and intensified here). This is the highest-frequency Critical term in Galatians (2:16, 19, 21; 3:2-25; 4:4-5, 21; 5:3-4, 14, 18, 23; 6:2, 13). NEVER shorten to bare ‘Şerîet,’ which risks conflation with Islamic sharia generally, nor use ‘Namûs,’ which has narrowed in Kurdish to mean family/female honor as in honor-killing contexts.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Mesîh
Transliteration: Mesîh
Doctrine: Crucified with Christ
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Occurs throughout the letter.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Îsa
Transliteration: Îsa
Doctrine: Crucified with Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. The Quranic prophet-only, non-crucified, non-divine narrative must be actively corrected, with particular force at 3:1 and 3:13 given the letter’s explicit crucifixion emphasis.
God
Approved rendering: Xwedê
Transliteration: Xwedê
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Rejected alternatives: Allah
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package.
Father
Approved rendering: Bav
Transliteration: Bav
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Occurs in the salutation and at the climactic ‘Abba, Father’ of 4:6; the tawhid-anthropomorphism objection applies as in Romans.
Works Of The Law
Approved rendering: Karên Şerîeta Mûsa
Transliteration: karên şerîeta mûsa
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: karên baş (good deeds, too generic)
Original: ἔργα νόμου
Category: Law
New for Galatians. Must always retain the ‘Şerîeta Mûsa’ qualifier. Closely parallels the Islamic a’mal (deeds) category as a basis of divine acceptance at final judgment, a load-bearing assumption of the region’s dominant Sunni tradition; the letter’s entire argument depends on decisively denying this basis, so any softening toward ‘not helped by’ rather than ‘not at all by’ works of the law destroys the doctrine.
Different Gospel
Approved rendering: Mizgîniyeke din
Transliteration: mizgîniyeke din
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Original: ἕτερον εὐαγγέλιον / ἄλλο εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Gospel
New for Galatians. Must always be paired with the explicit denial that any other true gospel exists (1:7), since a bare descriptive phrase risks reading as one of several acceptable options rather than a decisive falsehood.
Anathema
Approved rendering: Bila nifir li ser be
Transliteration: nifir
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Rejected alternatives: lanet (Arabic loan, closer to Islamic takfir register)
Original: ἀνάθεμα
Category: Gospel
New for Galatians. Uses the native ‘nifir’ rather than the Arabic-loan ‘lanet,’ whose register sits closer to Islamic takfir (excommunication/apostasy declaration) — a category with serious real-world safety consequences across the four host states. Must be framed strictly as Paul’s own specific apostolic pronouncement on a defined false teaching, never as a template for declaring fellow believers apostate.
Curse Of The Law
Approved rendering: Nifira Şerîeta Mûsa
Transliteration: nifira şerîeta mûsa
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Rejected alternatives: bare ‘nifira Şerîetê’
Original: κατάρα τοῦ νόμου
Category: Law
New for Galatians. Must never be shortened to bare ‘nifira Şerîetê,’ which risks being heard as ‘sharia itself brings a curse’ — a highly inflammatory misreading in a Sunni-majority destination culture; the full qualifier is non-negotiable.
Hanged On A Tree
Approved rendering: Hatiye daliqandin li ser darê
Transliteration: dar (tree/wood)
Doctrine: Crucified with Christ
Original: κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου
Category: Christology
New for Galatians. Quotation of Deuteronomy 21:23 applied to Christ’s crucifixion (3:13); requires unambiguous affirmation that the crucifixion actually, historically happened, directly engaging the regional Qur’anic crucifixion-denial (4:157) more explicitly than most of Romans.
Crucified With Christ
Approved rendering: Ez bi Mesîh re hatim xaçkirin
Transliteration: xaçkirin
Doctrine: Crucified with Christ
Rejected alternatives: bi Mesîh re mirin (weaker, loses crucifixion-specificity)
Original: συνεσταύρωμαι
Category: Christology
New for Galatians. Doubles the baseline crucifixion-denial risk with a distinct union-with-Christ risk: must affirm both (a) Christ’s actual, historical crucifixion, and (b) the believer’s real spiritual co-crucifixion, without being assimilated into Sufi fana (self-annihilation into the divine). Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence (2:19-20; 5:24; 6:14).
Promise
Approved rendering: Soz
Transliteration: soz
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Rejected alternatives: Peyman (reserved exclusively for ‘covenant’)
Original: ἐπαγγελία
Category: Covenant
New for Galatians. Must never collapse into ‘Peyman’ (covenant); the Abrahamic-promise argument is built on Isaac rather than Ishmael, standing in direct tension with the Islamic tradition’s veneration of Ishmael as the son of promise and co-builder of the Ka’aba.
Hagar Sarah Allegory
Approved rendering: Hecer / Sara; li gorî bedenê / li gorî sozê; du peyman
Transliteration: Hecer / Sara
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: παιδίσκη/ἐλευθέρα; κατὰ σάρκα/δι’ ἐπαγγελίας; δύο διαθῆκαι; ἡ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλήμ
Category: Covenant
New for Galatians. The single highest-sensitivity passage in the letter (4:21-31): directly inverts the Islamic tradition’s veneration of Ishmael (Hagar’s unnamed-but-recognized son) as the son of promise, ancestor of the Arabs, and co-builder of the Ka’aba. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence; must be taught as covenant typology (law vs. promise), never a claim about Ishmael’s descendants’ worth or salvation-status.
Elemental Spirits
Approved rendering: Bingehên Seretayî yên vê Dinyayê
Transliteration: stoicheia (gloss only)
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Rejected alternatives: ruhên cîhanê (rejected — risks jinn/spirit-world conflation)
Original: τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου
Category: Law
New for Galatians. Widespread Kurdish folk religion, including Yazidi tradition and folk-Islamic belief in cin (jinn) and nature spirits, makes a literal ‘spirits’ rendering highly likely to be assimilated into an animistic spirit-world framework Paul is not describing (4:3, 9). Theologian review required to fix the rendering consistently at both occurrences.
Freedom
Approved rendering: Azadî
Transliteration: azadî
Doctrine: Freedom in Christ
Original: ἐλευθερία
Category: Freedom
New for Galatians — the single most extensively flagged term in the whole book. Azadî is the baseline-documented core vocabulary of Kurdish political-nationalist liberation (twinned with Rizgarî) across all four host states; Galatians builds a full chapter-length ethical doctrine (ch. 5) on this exact word. Every occurrence (2:4; 5:1, 13) must be explicitly anchored to freedom from the law’s condemning power and sin’s dominion, never left unanchored, given real safety implications of being heard as coded political speech in more restrictive host states.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: Sinet
Transliteration: sinet
Doctrine: Circumcision and the New Creation
Rejected alternatives: no safe native alternative identified
Original: περιτομή
Category: Law
New for Galatians. Near-universal, socially central Kurdish Muslim rite of passage with no safe native alternative rendering, parallel to the baseline’s own ‘namûs’ caution. Paul’s argument targets circumcision as a salvation-requirement (2:3-5; 5:2-6, 11; 6:12-15), not the practice itself; must avoid both denigrating readers’ own completed cultural/religious identity marker and softening the doctrine. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence.
New Creation
Approved rendering: Afirandina Nû
Transliteration: afirandina nû
Doctrine: Circumcision and the New Creation
Original: καινὴ κτίσις
Category: Salvation
New for Galatians. The letter’s climactic answer to the circumcision controversy (6:15); must be taught as a definite, supernatural, once-for-all transformation, not a general moral-improvement metaphor, and must not be diluted by any concern to soften the preceding circumcision material.
Flesh Ethical
Approved rendering: Nefs
Transliteration: nefs
Doctrine: Flesh versus Spirit
Rejected alternatives: beden (too neutral/physical for this sense)
Original: σάρξ (ethical sense)
Category: Sanctification
New for Galatians. The established Sufi/Islamic term for the lower self/carnal ego, well-known across Kurdish Muslim culture as the object of ascetic spiritual struggle (5:13, 16-17, 19, 24; 6:8). Carries a serious inverted risk: mainstream regional teaching on conquering the nefs emphasizes self-discipline and willpower, whereas Galatians 5 teaches the flesh is defeated only by walking in the Spirit. Every occurrence must be paired with explicit Spirit-empowered, not self-effort, teaching. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence.
Revelation
Approved rendering: Eşkerekirina Îsa Mesîh
Transliteration: eşkerekirin
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: ἀποκάλυψις
Category: Apostleship
New for Galatians. Direct, unmediated divine disclosure to Paul (1:12, 16; 2:2), the ground of his apostolic authority. Runs directly against the finality-of-prophethood (khatam an-nabiyyin) framework already flagged High under the baseline’s ‘prophet’ entry; must be taught as Christ’s unique self-disclosure to Paul for apostolic commissioning, not a claim to ongoing scripture-level revelation for all believers.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: Mizgînî
Transliteration: Mizgînî
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (baseline risk Medium). Risk escalates to High in Galatians because the term is now paired with an anathema/curse formula (1:8-9) against anyone preaching ‘a different gospel’ — consistency and precision carry higher stakes than in Romans.
Grace
Approved rendering: Kerem
Transliteration: kerem
Doctrine: Law and Grace
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Galatians structurally opposes grace and Şerîeta Mûsa as mutually exclusive alternatives (2:21; 5:4), intensifying the baseline Sufi-keramet elite-favor risk; ‘fallen from grace’ (5:4) must never read as losing an achievable spiritual rank.
Faith
Approved rendering: Îman
Transliteration: iman
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Occurs three times within Galatians 2:16 alone; must be rendered identically at all three occurrences to preserve the argument’s force against the region’s six-pillars creedal-assent default.
Called
Approved rendering: Bangkirî
Transliteration: bangkirî
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: καλέω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Context-sensitive across Galatians’ distinct senses (calling to apostleship, 1:15; calling to freedom, 5:13); the direction of address (God calling a person) must be made explicit at each occurrence.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: Teqdîs
Transliteration: teqdîs
Doctrine: Flesh versus Spirit
Rejected alternatives: Pakkirin
Original: ἁγιασμός (implicit; cf. Spirit-life ethics of chs. 5-6)
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Forbidden substitution ‘Pakkirin’ (ritual cleanliness) remains banned; expressed in Galatians as the fruit of the Spirit produced through Spirit-empowered, not self-effort, transformation.
Adoption
Approved rendering: Kurxwendin
Transliteration: kurxwendin
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Original: υἱοθεσία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Galatians 4:5-7 is the doctrine’s clearest statement in either letter, reinforced by explicit contrast with slave status (4:1, 7) and by the Hagar/Sarah inheritance dispute (4:30), sharpening the baseline’s Quranic-adoption-restriction (33:4-5) and aşîret-lineage cautions.
Church
Approved rendering: Dêr
Transliteration: dêr
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Dêr for a building, Civata Mesîhî for the gathered people (‘churches of Galatia,’ 1:2; ‘church of God,’ 1:13); region-aware framing across the four host states’ differing religious-freedom environments remains necessary.
Sin
Approved rendering: Guneh
Transliteration: guneh
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package. Galatians 3:22’s universal claim (‘Scripture imprisoned everything under sin’) must not be softened, per the universality-preservation rule; shares the region’s fitrah (innate purity) risk.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: Guhdarîkirina Baweriyê
Transliteration: guhdarîkirina baweriyê
Doctrine: Faith Working through Love
Original: ὑπακοή (background concept; cf. 3:2, 5 ‘hearing with faith’)
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Contrasted throughout Galatians with law-based compliance; kept distinct from the new ‘hearing with faith’ (bihîstina bi îmanê) term.
Prophet
Approved rendering: Pêxember
Transliteration: pêxember
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: προφήτης (background; cf. revelation claim of ch.1)
Category: Law
Inherited from Romans package. Background category against which Paul’s apostolic revelation claim (1:12, 16) must be distinguished; see ‘revelation’ entry for the escalated risk of Paul’s specific claim.
Covenant
Approved rendering: Peyman
Transliteration: peyman
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Referenced at the Abrahamic covenant and the ‘two covenants’ of the Hagar-Sarah allegory (3:15, 17; 4:24). Must remain lexically distinct from the new term ‘Soz’ (promise); Galatians’ argument depends on the two not being collapsed together.
Election
Approved rendering: Hilbijartin
Transliteration: hilbijartin
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: ἐκλογή (background; cf. 1:15 ‘set apart from my mother’s womb’)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Implicit in Paul’s calling narrative (1:15, ‘set apart from my mother’s womb’); the democratic-election homonym risk applies as in Romans.
Intercession
Approved rendering: Navbeynkarî
Transliteration: navbeynkarî
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Original: cf. μεσίτης word-family (3:19-20)
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Root for the new Galatians term ‘Navbeynkar’ (mediator, 3:19-20).
Mission
Approved rendering: Peywira Mizgîniyê
Transliteration: peywira Mizgîniyê
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: ἀποστολή (implicit; cf. 1:16, 2:2, 7-9)
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Covers Paul’s sending to the Gentiles specifically (2:7-9); the four-host-state safety-variance caution applies as in Romans.
Abba
Approved rendering: Aba
Transliteration: Aba
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Original: Ἀββᾶ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Preserved untranslated at Galatians 4:6, exactly as at Romans 8:15; deliberate contrast with transcendence-emphasizing regional piety.
Seed Of Abraham
Approved rendering: Dûndana Îbrahîm
Transliteration: dûndana Îbrahîm
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ
Category: Covenant
New for Galatians, built on the baseline’s ‘Dûndana Dawid’ pattern. Paul’s singular/plural wordplay (‘not seeds, but seed, who is Christ,’ 3:16) may not transfer naturally to Kurdish grammar; requires explanatory apparatus. Directly relevant to Kurdish tribal (aşîret) lineage-based identity structures.
Guardian Paidagogos
Approved rendering: Rêberê Zarokan
Transliteration: paidagogos (gloss only)
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Rejected alternatives: pîr/mamoste (risks conflation with the Sufi spiritual-master role)
Original: παιδαγωγός
Category: Law
New for Galatians. A temporary custodial role, set aside at maturity (3:24-25) — unlike the lifelong hierarchical Sufi murshid bond; requires an explanatory gloss since no exact Kurdish cultural equivalent exists.
Heir
Approved rendering: Mîratgir
Transliteration: mîratgir
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Original: κληρονόμος
Category: Salvation
New for Galatians. Kurdish tribal (aşîret) inheritance customs are strongly patrilineal and blood-lineage-based; Paul’s point that adopted, Spirit-given sons receive full inheritance regardless of lineage (4:1, 7, 30) runs directly against this cultural default.
Yoke Of Slavery
Approved rendering: Nîrê Koletiyê
Transliteration: nîr, kole
Doctrine: Freedom in Christ
Original: ζυγὸς δουλείας
Category: Freedom
New for Galatians. Direct antonym pairing with ‘Azadî’ (5:1); the sharp freedom/slavery contrast must be preserved.
Works Of The Flesh
Approved rendering: Karên Nefsê
Transliteration: karên nefsê
Doctrine: Flesh versus Spirit
Original: τὰ ἔργα τῆς σαρκός
Category: Sanctification
New for Galatians. Parallel construction to ‘works of the law’ (5:19-21). ‘Sorcery’ within the vice list intersects with regional folk-magic and evil-eye practices; flag for native speaker review of each vice-term’s precise Kurdish equivalent.
Faith Working Through Love
Approved rendering: Îmana ku bi Evînê Kar Dike
Transliteration: îmana ku bi evînê kar dike
Doctrine: Faith Working through Love
Original: πίστις δι᾿ ἀγάπης ἐνεργουμένη
Category: Faith
New for Galatians. Must be taught as love being faith’s fruit and evidence (5:6), never a second, separate ground of justification standing alongside faith and circumcision-status, consistent with the baseline’s obedience-of-faith caution regarding the region’s submission-as-core-category default.
Law Of Christ
Approved rendering: Şerîeta Mesîh
Transliteration: şerîeta mesîh
Doctrine: Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Original: ὁ νόμος τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Category: Law
New for Galatians, built on the mandatory ‘Şerîeta [X]’ qualifier pattern. Requires explicit teaching that this is a paradoxical, ironic use of ‘law’ (Christ’s self-giving love as the law’s true fulfillment, 6:2), not a new legal code replacing the Law of Moses on the same works-basis Paul has spent five chapters rejecting; real risk of being heard as ‘the new sharia of Christ’ if not carefully taught.
Boast In The Cross
Approved rendering: Bi Xaç Pesindan
Transliteration: pesindan
Doctrine: Crucified with Christ
Original: καυχᾶσθαι εἰ μὴ ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ
Category: Christology
New for Galatians. An honor-shame reversal (6:14): boasting in a historically shameful instrument of execution runs directly counter to typical honor-seeking dynamics in Kurdish tribal/social culture, requiring explicit teaching, not softening.
Israel Of God
Approved rendering: Îsraîlê Xwedê
Transliteration: Îsraîlê Xwedê
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: ὁ Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Covenant
New for Galatians. This typological reapplication of ‘Israel’ to the multiethnic church (6:16) must be carefully framed given the baseline’s note of unusually favorable Kurdish popular sentiment toward the modern state of Israel, teaching the phrase’s fulfillment sense without erasing ethnic Israel’s identity or appearing to make a claim about the modern political state.
Transgressor
Approved rendering: Binpêkerê Şerîetê
Transliteration: binpêker
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Rejected alternatives: gunehkar (too generic, loses precise legal-violation sense)
Original: παραβάτης
Category: Law
New for Galatians. One who steps across a known legal boundary, narrower than the general term ‘sinner’ (2:18); must not collapse into the generic ‘guneh/gunehkar’ vocabulary, which would blur Paul’s precise legal argument.
Bewitched
Approved rendering: Çavê Xerab Lê Xistin
Transliteration: çavê xerab
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Original: ἐβάσκανεν
Category: Gospel
New for Galatians. Draws on the live Kurdish folk category of the evil eye (nazar) at 3:1. A genuine cultural asset immediately understood by readers, but requires framing as Paul’s vivid rhetorical idiom for deception, not an endorsement of literal curse-magic or folk animism.
Truth Of The Gospel
Approved rendering: Rastiya Mizgîniyê
Transliteration: rastiya mizgîniyê
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Original: ἡ ἀλήθεια τοῦ εὐαγγελίου
Category: Gospel
New for Galatians. This exact phrase recurs at the hinge of the Cephas confrontation and must be rendered identically at both occurrences (2:5 and 2:14).
Redeemed
Approved rendering: Fîdî Kirin
Transliteration: fîdî
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Rejected alternatives: xilas kirin (too close to generic Rizgarî family; kept distinct for the purchase/ransom nuance)
Original: ἐξηγόρασεν / ἐξαγοράσῃ
Category: Salvation
New for Galatians. A genuine cultural asset given Kurdish tribal customs of paying ransom or compensation to free captives, illuminating the substitutionary ‘payment’ sense of 3:13 and 4:5; caution that it not be flattened into a bare financial transaction devoid of the cross’s atoning significance.
Hearing With Faith
Approved rendering: Bihîstina bi Îmanê
Transliteration: bihîstina bi îmanê
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Original: ἀκοὴ πίστεως
Category: Faith
New for Galatians. The gospel message heard and received in trust, contrasted with law-observance as the means of receiving the Spirit (3:2, 5); distinct from but adjacent to the baseline’s Guhdarîkirina Baweriyê (obedience of faith) — care must be taken not to conflate the two.
Fallen From Grace
Approved rendering: Ji Keremê Ketin
Transliteration: ji keremê ketin
Doctrine: Law and Grace
Original: τῆς χάριτος ἐξεπέσατε
Category: Salvation
New for Galatians. A severe warning against seeking law-based justification after having received grace (5:4); must not be read through a Sufi-keramet lens (an elite spiritual status lost through insufficient rank or effort), but taught as the specific danger of abandoning grace-based justification for law-based justification.
Observe Days Months Seasons Years
Approved rendering: Rojan, Mehan, Demsalan û Salan Lê Nêrîn
Transliteration: rojan, mehan, demsalan û salan lê nêrîn
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Original: ἡμέρας παρατηρεῖσθε καὶ μῆνας καὶ καιροὺς καὶ ἐνιαυτούς
Category: Law
New for Galatians. Calendrical/ritual religious observance treated as a basis for righteousness, rebuked as regression to law-bondage (4:10). Pastorally sensitive given Ramadan, Islamic holy days, and Yazidi holy days observed by readers’ own families and neighbors; must be framed as a critique of law-based righteousness through ritual calendar-keeping specifically, not a blanket condemnation of any religious calendar observance.
Offense Of The Cross
Approved rendering: Sedema Tiralbûnê ya Xaçê
Transliteration: sedema tiralbûnê
Doctrine: Crucified with Christ
Original: τὸ σκάνδαλον τοῦ σταυροῦ
Category: Christology
New for Galatians. The cross as a culturally shameful and theologically offensive stumbling block to those seeking law-righteousness (5:11); a crucified Messiah remains deeply countercultural in honor-shame Kurdish society and requires careful framing, not softening.
Died For No Purpose
Approved rendering: Bêsedem Mir
Transliteration: bêsedem mir
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Original: δωρεάν
Category: Christology
New for Galatians. Core passage term (2:21): if righteousness came through the law, Christ’s death would have been pointless. Carries a wordplay with the ‘free gift’ (dōrean) root shared with charis/grace; must preserve the force of the a fortiori argument without losing this secondary association.
Hagar
Approved rendering: Hecer
Transliteration: Hecer
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
New proper name for Galatians. Central to the chapter 4 allegory; see the ‘hagar_sarah_allegory’ entry for the full Critical-risk framing this name’s narrative context requires.
Sarah
Approved rendering: Sara
Transliteration: Sara
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
New proper name for Galatians. Central to the chapter 4 allegory; see the ‘hagar_sarah_allegory’ entry for the full Critical-risk framing this name’s narrative context requires.
Jerusalem Above
Approved rendering: Orşelîma jorîn
Transliteration: Orşelîma jorîn
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
New for Galatians. Represents the covenant of promise/freedom in the Hagar-Sarah allegory (4:26), contrasted with the present, earthly Orşelîm; part of the Critical-risk allegory requiring theologian review.
Medium Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: Şandî
Transliteration: şandî
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: Resûl
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Avoids the Rasul Allah collision, but Galatians’ emphasis on Paul’s apostleship being ‘not from men’ (1:1) raises the stakes of the surrounding revelation claim; see ‘revelation’ entry.
Calling
Approved rendering: Vexwendin
Transliteration: vexwendin
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: κλῆσις (implicit; cf. κλητός word-group)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package.
Holy
Approved rendering: Pîroz
Transliteration: pîroz
Doctrine: Flesh versus Spirit
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Chiefly present in Galatians through Ruhê Pîroz compounds.
Peace
Approved rendering: Aştî
Transliteration: aştî
Doctrine: Fruit of the Spirit
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Appears in the salutation (1:3), as fruit of the Spirit (5:22), and in the benediction (6:16).
Gentiles
Approved rendering: Ne-cihû
Transliteration: ne-cihû
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Rejected alternatives: Umet
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Central to Paul’s Gentile-mission argument (2:2-15; 3:8, 14).
Glory
Approved rendering: Rûmet
Transliteration: rûmet
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Invoked in doxological response (1:5, 24).
Power Of God
Approved rendering: Hêza Xwedê
Transliteration: hêza Xwedê
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ (implicit)
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Implicit in the account of Paul’s transformation and the Spirit’s work.
Providence
Approved rendering: Rêveberiya Xwedê
Transliteration: rêveberiya Xwedê
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Original: τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Frames Galatians 4:4’s ‘fullness of time’; must be kept distinct from folk qadar fatalism, as in Romans.
Israel
Approved rendering: Îsraîl
Transliteration: Îsraîl
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Reapplied typologically to the church at 6:16 (‘the Israel of God’); risk escalates in that new phrase — see ‘israel_of_god’ entry.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: Dûndana Dawid
Transliteration: dûndana Dawid
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: background pattern for σπέρμα constructions
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Structural model for the new Galatians term ‘Dûndana Îbrahîm’ (seed of Abraham).
Fellowship
Approved rendering: Hevaltî
Transliteration: hevaltî
Doctrine: Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Inherited from Romans package. Root for the new Galatians phrase ‘Destê Rastê yê Hevaltiyê’ (right hand of fellowship, 2:9); ‘heval’ carries a secular revolutionary-movement (‘comrade’) echo in contemporary Kurdish political usage that context must disambiguate.
Abraham
Approved rendering: Îbrahîm
Transliteration: Îbrahîm
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: Ἀβραάμ
Category: Covenant
New for Galatians (not in Romans TM). Established Kurdish Christian Bible form. A shared, positively-regarded Quranic prophet-figure, but Galatians’ argument — the promise fulfilled through Isaac’s line, culminating in Christ — runs directly against the competing Ishmael-centered narrative dominant in regional tradition; this must be taught explicitly, not assumed.
Uncircumcision
Approved rendering: Nesinetî
Transliteration: nesinetî
Doctrine: Circumcision and the New Creation
Original: ἀκροβυστία
Category: Law
New for Galatians. Descriptive pairing with Sinet (5:6; 6:15).
Flesh Neutral
Approved rendering: Beden
Transliteration: beden
Doctrine: Crucified with Christ
Rejected alternatives: nefs (would wrongly import moral negativity into this neutral sense)
Original: σάρξ (neutral/physical sense)
Category: Christology
New for Galatians. Ordinary bodily/earthly existence, the neutral sense at 2:20 (‘the life I now live in the flesh’). Must not let the negative Nefs rendering used from chapter 5 onward bleed backward into this neutral use, and vice versa; flag for consistency-check across the letter.
Fruit Of The Spirit
Approved rendering: Fêkiyê Ruh
Transliteration: fêkiyê ruh
Doctrine: Fruit of the Spirit
Rejected alternatives: berhemê Ruh (considered; fêkî preferred as more organic/natural metaphor)
Original: ὁ καρπὸς τοῦ πνεύματος
Category: Sanctification
New for Galatians. Deliberate singular ‘fruit’ (5:22-23) vs. plural ‘works of the flesh’; this grammatical contrast (unified Spirit-produced character vs. a checklist of behaviors) is theologically significant and should be preserved where Kurdish grammar allows.
Bear One Anothers Burdens
Approved rendering: Barê Hev Hilgirin
Transliteration: barê hev hilgirin
Doctrine: Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Original: ἀλλήλων τὰ βάρη βαστάζετε
Category: Church
New for Galatians. A genuine cultural asset — Kurdish tribal/communal mutual-aid customs (destgirtin) offer strong positive resonance for this exhortation (6:2).
Servant Of Christ
Approved rendering: Xulamê Mesîh
Transliteration: xulamê Mesîh
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: koleyê Mesîh
Original: δοῦλος Χριστοῦ
Category: Apostleship
New for Galatians. Paul’s self-designation (1:10). Positive sense of doulos must be held in careful tension with the negative ‘slavery’ word-group used elsewhere in the letter (2:4; 4:1-9; 5:1) — the same root carries opposite valences depending on the master in view.
False Brothers
Approved rendering: Birayên Derewîn
Transliteration: birayên derewîn
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Original: ψευδάδελφοι
Category: Church
New for Galatians. Infiltrating opponents posing as believers who sought to enslave believers to the law (2:4).
Mediator
Approved rendering: Navbeynkar
Transliteration: navbeynkar
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Original: μεσίτης
Category: Law
New for Galatians, built on the baseline’s Navbeynkarî (intercession). Of Moses at Sinai (3:19-20).
Zealous For Ancestral Traditions
Approved rendering: Dilxwazî ji bo Kevneşopiyên Bav û Kalan
Transliteration: dilxwazî
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: ζηλωτὴς τῶν πατρικῶν μου παραδόσεων
Category: Apostleship
New for Galatians. Paul’s pre-conversion intense zeal for inherited religious practice (1:14), narrated as the very thing the gospel overturned — resonant with, and thus needing distinction from, the strong Kurdish/Islamic value placed on zeal for ancestral religious tradition.
Servant Diakonos
Approved rendering: Xizmetkar
Transliteration: xizmetkar
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Original: διάκονος
Category: Christology
New for Galatians. Used rhetorically at 2:17 (‘Is Christ then a servant of sin?’), distinct connotation from kole (slave); must not be conflated with the negative slavery vocabulary of chapters 4-5.
Certainly Not
Approved rendering: Qet nabe!
Transliteration: qet nabe
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: Bila tu carî wisa nebe! (acceptable longer variant)
Original: μὴ γένοιτο
Category: Faith
New for Galatians. A fixed Pauline idiom of strong repudiation (2:17; 3:21; 6:14); must render the force of emphatic rejection and must not borrow Islamic religious idiom structurally resembling ‘God forbid’ formulas without review.
Judaize
Approved rendering: Wek Cihûyan Jiyîn
Transliteration: wek Cihûyan jiyîn
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Original: ἰουδαΐζειν
Category: Law
New for Galatians. Adopting Jewish covenant-identity markers; Paul’s charge against Peter’s inconsistent behavior (2:14).
Household Of Faith
Approved rendering: Malbata Îmanê
Transliteration: malbata îmanê
Doctrine: Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Original: οἱ οἰκεῖοι τῆς πίστεως
Category: Church
New for Galatians. The church as a family bound by shared faith rather than blood (6:10); tension with the strong tribal/aşîret household (malbat/binemal) identity structures already flagged in the baseline’s Christian-identity caution.
Sowing And Reaping
Approved rendering: Çandin û Dirûn
Transliteration: çandin û dirûn
Doctrine: Flesh versus Spirit
Original: ὃ ἐὰν σπείρῃ ἄνθρωπος, τοῦτο καὶ θερίσει
Category: Sanctification
New for Galatians. The moral cause-and-effect principle governing sowing to the flesh versus sowing to the Spirit (6:7-8), standard agricultural vocabulary.
Marks Of Jesus
Approved rendering: Nîşanên Îsa
Transliteration: nîşanên Îsa
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: τὰ στίγματα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ
Category: Apostleship
New for Galatians. Scars from persecution suffered for Christ, likely alluding to slave-branding (6:17); clarify as scars from suffering for the gospel, distinct from devotional stigmata traditions and regional folk/ritual scarification practices.
Right Hand Of Fellowship
Approved rendering: Destê Rastê yê Hevaltiyê
Transliteration: destê rastê yê hevaltiyê
Doctrine: Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Original: δεξιὰς κοινωνίας
Category: Church
New for Galatians, built on the baseline’s Hevaltî (fellowship). A formal gesture of shared mission and mutual recognition (2:9); the baseline’s ‘heval’ political-comrade echo caution applies again here.
Mount Sinai
Approved rendering: Çiyayê Sînayê
Transliteration: Çiyayê Sînayê
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
New proper name for Galatians. Represents the covenant of law/slavery in the Hagar allegory (4:24-25), paired against the Jerusalem above.
Low Risk Terms
David
Approved rendering: Dawid
Transliteration: Dawid
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: background covenant framework (not directly named in Galatians)
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Not directly named in Galatians but retained for cross-curriculum consistency and as the structural model for ‘Dûndana Îbrahîm’ (seed of Abraham).
Exhort
Approved rendering: Handan kirin
Transliteration: handan kirin
Doctrine: Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Original: cf. καταρτίζετε (6:1, restore in a spirit of gentleness)
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Paired with a descriptive rendering for the specific ‘restore gently’ idiom at 6:1.
Moses
Approved rendering: Mûsa
Transliteration: Mûsa
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Original: Μωϋσῆς (implicit; cf. 3:19-20 ‘ordained through angels by an intermediary’)
Category: Law
New for Galatians. Established Kurdish Christian Bible form; the lawgiver, background figure to whom the Şerîeta Mûsa qualifier refers throughout the letter (3:19-20, ‘ordained through angels by an intermediary’). Low independent risk beyond consistency with the ‘law’ entry’s mandatory qualifier.
Hypocrisy
Approved rendering: Durûtî
Transliteration: durûtî
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Original: ὑπόκρισις
Category: Church
New for Galatians. Describes Peter’s conduct at Antioch (2:13); established Kurdish word, low collision risk.
Pillars
Approved rendering: Stûn
Transliteration: stûn
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: στῦλοι
Category: Church
New for Galatians. Figurative reference to James, Cephas, and John as leaders who support the Jerusalem church (2:9); a transparent native metaphor with low collision risk.
Galatia
Approved rendering: Galatya
Transliteration: Galatya
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
New proper name for Galatians. Standard transliteration of the letter’s destination region; low risk.
Cephas
Approved rendering: Kefas
Transliteration: Kefas
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
New proper name for Galatians. Paul’s Aramaic-form usage (1:18; 2:7-14); gloss as Petrûs at first occurrence only to align with established Kurdish Gospel-tradition usage.
Barnabas
Approved rendering: Barnabas
Transliteration: Barnabas
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
New proper name for Galatians. Standard transliteration.
Titus
Approved rendering: Tîtûs
Transliteration: Tîtûs
Doctrine: Circumcision and the New Creation
New proper name for Galatians. The Gentile companion at the center of the circumcision test-case (2:1-5).
James
Approved rendering: Aqûb
Transliteration: Aqûb
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
New proper name for Galatians. The Lord’s brother, one of the Jerusalem ‘pillars’ (1:19; 2:9); consistent with established Kurdish Bible convention.
Antioch
Approved rendering: Entaqya
Transliteration: Entaqya
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
New proper name for Galatians. Site of Paul’s public rebuke of Cephas (2:11-14).
Arabia
Approved rendering: Erebistan
Transliteration: Erebistan
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
New proper name for Galatians. Geographic reference in Paul’s autobiography (1:17); low risk.
Damascus
Approved rendering: Şam / Dimeşq
Transliteration: Şam / Dimeşq
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
New proper name for Galatians. Use the established Kurdish Bible convention; confirm with the destination platform before batch processing (1:17).
Referenced passages